Fighting It
by fanwriterkris
Summary: Jack suddenly falls ill and his friends rally behind him, no matter what may lie ahead.
1. Chapter 1

Janet Wood came home to a dark apartment, both of her roommates were apparanately already asleep. It was past midnight after all, so this didn't surprise her. She had a date that lasted longer than she inteded, finally convincing the fellow to bring her home with the excuse that she had to work the next morning. A little white lie never hurt anyone.

She yawned as she headed for the bathroom to change, still thinking of her date and deciding she didn't want to go out with this Brad guy again. The two of them just didn't click.

All thoughts of her night stopped dead as she opened the door to the sight of her long time roommate and best friend, Jack Tripper, lying against the wall next to the toilet. She was at his side in an instant.

At first, she thought maybe he just had too much to drink and had passed out. She was slightly worried, but more annoyed, as she often considered Jack her brother, one she protected and watched over. She vowed to chew him out good in the morning if this was a case of being drunk.

"Jack? If you're drunk, Jack, I'm going to beat you all the way back to your bedroom! Wake up." She tapped the unconcious young man slightly on his reddened cheek with no result. The small hand then moved to his forehead and she instantly forgot all irritation when she felt the heat radiating from her friend.

"Jack. Come on, sweetie, I need you to wake up". Again, she tapped the hot cheek and picked her beloved friend's head up and placed it in her lap, weaving the fine locks of hair through her hand. She bent down to his ear and tried again, speaking gently. "Jack? Open your eyes and look at me. Jack, honey, wake up."

Panic set in, Without looking up she screamed for help from her other roommate, who just happened to be a nurse "Terri! Please Hurry!". The already high pitched voice becoming even more so as fear overcame her.

Seconds later, Terri emerged from the bedroom the two girls shared, her mind still cloudy from sleep.

"Janet? Where are you? What's wrong".

"I'm in the bathroom, hurry Terri, something's wrong with Jack."

Hearing the fear in Janet's voice, Terri was instantly fully awake and beside her two roommates. She found Janet on the floor of the bathroom w with Jack's head in her lap, shaking him softly and pleading with him to wake up.

"Oh my God Janet, what's going on?" instantly falling to the floor next to the duo.

"I don't know, Terri, I don't know!" Tears were now falling freely down the small, delicate face. "I just got home and came to change before I went to bed, and he was in here, and I can't get him to wake up. Jack!" She shakes him again, willing him to open those blue eyes and grin at her, so he could tell her it was all a joke.

Terri gently stops Janet's attempt to shake their friend awake and puts her hand on the steaming forehead, pushing back the soft chestnut colored hair as she does so.

Her voice is suddenly calm and serious, the tone she has learned to use to calm the family members of her patients. From experience,  
>she can tell without the use of a thermometer that Jack's temperature is dangerously high.<p>

"Janet, we need to calm down, okay? He is burning up and we have to cool him or he could suffer brain damage." At this, Janet lets out a small whimper and a weak nod of the head.

Terri watched, satisfied that she has gotten through.

"Okay, first...". stopping as she noticed that Janet is again looking forlornly at the man that she knows is like a brother to her. "Janet!"  
>She grasps at the thin shoulder of her friend. "Janet, I know you're scared but we have to help him. You need to call an ambulance.<br>And on your way back, can you find the thermometer?"

The dark haired figure nods, with one more look at the man on the floor and then goes for the phone, her hands shaking as she picks up the receiver.

Meanwhile, Terri has grabbed a towel from the rack above her and placed it under Jack's head. She gently removed his shirt and blue jeans, only leaving his boxer shorts. She takes quick note of how thin her roommate has gotten and remembers how tired he has been the last couple weeks, sleeping often and excusing himself from meals, saying he must have a stocmach bug. She silently curses herself for not noticing he was really sick.

Turning on the cold water at the faucet,  
>she soaked three washclothes and placed two of them on jack's forehead and neck, using the third to drip the cold water onto the overheated face, neck and body. By the time Janet returned, Terri was again setting on the floor with Jack's head in her lap,<br>speaking to him softly, hoping to revive him, but so far having no effect.

Handing Terri the thermometer, Janet immediately falls into place on the floor beside Jack. "They said there was a huge crash on the other side of town and it may take 15 to 20 minutes to get an ambulance here." Her tears fall onto Jack's already damp hair as she gently strokes his head. She watches as Terri places the thermomoter under his arm, swallowing more fear as she notices he doesn't react when the cold metal touches his scorching skin. A panicked sob escapes her as she sees the raw fear cross Terri's face after she sees the reading.

"How high is it, Terri"

Terri doesn't immediately answer the question , instead she stands upruptly. "I'm going to fill the tub with cold water and we need to put him in it. We need help, can you call Larry? It's 105.5 and we have to stop it".

Minutes later Larry is bursting through the door and into the bathroom. He easily lifts Jack and places him in the tub of cool water, supporting his head so that it doesn't go under.

Jack suddenly tenses and gasps, causing Larry to almost lose the light grip on his head.

"Jack, calm down buddy, I've got you." Larry stuggled to keep his friend from hurting himself in the hard ceramic tub, while Jack began to thrash and fight. He is awake now, but the fever has left him delerious, paniced and unfocused.

He feels the small hands that suddenly clamp over his own, but does not register them as belonging to Janet. Instead of feeling safe and secure in the knowledge that his friends are there to help him, he feels threatened. Feels as though he is being hurt.

Those same delicate hands go to his face, only alarming him more and he weakly reaches up to push them back.

Janet moves her own hands from Jack's and brings them to his face, turning his head until his bloodshot, terrified eyes meet her own.

"Jack...Jack, look at me Honey. It's Janet. You have to calm down, you're going to hurt yourself. Larry's got you and he's not going to let you go under, but you have to be still, Jack. Please."

The words are distorted and unfamilar in Jack's fevered mind, and he only screams and tries once again to free himself from the hands that are holding him down.


	2. Chapter 2

Larry tigthens his grasp and pulls Jack's head towards the upper rim of the tub.

"Jack, please listen, buddy, stop fighting me. You're scaring me, Jack"

Terri can hear the crack in Larry's voice, she knows he's fighting his own tears and panic.

She looks beside her at Janet, who is weeping once again. She has let go of the hand she was grasping and is now rubbing the stricken man's head,  
>speaking softly to him.<p>

But nothing is working, Terri knows they're not going to be able to get through the fevered haze that is currently Jack's mind.

She grasps the wet, slippery arms tightly and pulls upward, in an attempt to help Larry hold their friend's head above the water.

"We're not going to be able to get through to him guys, we just have to keep him as still as we can so he doesn't hurt himself. Janet...Janet!" Finally her friend looks over in her direction, her face full of terror. "Janet,  
>can you try to hold his legs? He's going to break a foot or something.".<p>

At this, Janet immediately goes to the foot of the tub and grabs both of Jack's feet, using all her force to try and hold him still.

Struggling to hold her friend still, Janet looks up at Terri. "Why doesn't he know who we are, Terri? Please do something."

Terri can only shake her head, her own eyes misting. "His fever is too high. The cold water shocked his system into trying to wake up, but the fever has him out of his mind. We just have to hold him in here and hope it keeps his temperature from rising until the ambulance arrives. He'll be okay, Janet. He'll be okay."

She looks down at the agonized face at the man in the tub, the normally bright and gentle eyes are now glazed over. She only hopes she is right and that he will be okay. Jack is always so sweet, kind, and playful, she can't stand to see his this way any more than Janet or Larry. He's always so full of life and now he is lost and fighting. Terri is aware of the risk she is taking by placing him in cold water, but she also is aware of the risk of brain and organ damage if a fever rises too high. *I hope I did the right thing, Jack.* she thinks and then tightens her grip on his arms once again.

Suddenly she feels the thin arms in her grasp start to thrash uncontrollably and her heart sinks. Janet lets out a sob beside her and Larry curses as Jack's head jerks from his grasp.

Struggling to pull his friend's head from the tub he shoots a worried glaze at Terri as they all fight to hold the now seizing figure below them still.

One of Jack's arms jerks loose from Terri's grasp and his hand hits the tub hard at an awkward angle. The nurse things to herself that the hand if probably broken, but she knows that right now a broken hand is the least of their worries. She gathers her charge back up and holds on tighter.

"Terri, what's going on?" Janet is now crying uncrollably but is not loosing her hold on her friend's thrashing legs.

"He's having a seizure. It's okay. Just hold him guys and it will pass" Again, she prays that it really is okay and Jack will not come out of this with lifelong repurcussions.

She emits a sigh of relief as she hears an ambulance outside the apartment.

"Help is here."

At this moment the thrashing body they are all fighing to hold steady gradually begins to still. Jack's body has gone limp before the ambulance crew reaches the bathroom.

Three crew members pull Jack from the tub and onto the floor, checking his stats, while another questions his three exhaused and frightened friends.

"My name is Robbie and I need to get a little information."

The three people before him only nod, not taking their eyes from their fallen friend.

"He's stable right now. I know you are worried but to help him, I need someone to answer my questions.". The patient is stable, but Robbie doesn't elabarote any further. The young man's temerature is very dangerously high, the cold water probably helped to keep it down some, but the fever is still over 106 degrees. He knows they have to work fast. He also is afraid of what caused a temperature of this degree, what kind of illness the young man may have to fight. He knows this is most likely only the beginning of the fight. Right now though, he has to calm down his friends the best he can so he can contain the needed information from them.

They are looking at him now so he begins.

What is the patient's name and date or birth?

The small dark haired lady gives him the answer, still softly weeping.

"Jack...Jack Tripper". Then quietly finishes with his date of birth.

"Okay, has Jack been sick lately? This morning? The last week? The last month? Any of you seen any difference in his behaviour or general appearance?"

All three look at each other and slowly nod. The other young man speaks first.

"We all noticed the last couple of weeks that Jack was feeling off, but he never showed any signs that he was THIS sick. We should have payed closer attention...Damn it!".

Robbie places a heavy hand on the young man's shoulder. "Blaming yourselves won't help. Sometimes illnesses come on quickly after a slow build up and there just isn't much noticeable warning. Just a slight feeling of something not quite right."

The blonde has been watching the scene on the floor, as the crew gets ready to place Jack on the stretcher.

"I noticed when I removed his shirt before putting him in the tub that he was lose weight. A good bit actually. And yesterday afternoon he refused supper and went to lay down, saying he had a headache and he thought he still had a stomach bug. That's what he's been saying, he just thought it was a bug that he couldn't shake."

"So, it was your idea to put him in the cold water". Robbie looks her in the eye.

She nods. "I hope it was the right thing to do. It was a decision I thought I had to make. I'm a nurse and I know the risks but I felt they were worth taking."

Robbie again looks her in the eye and tells her she did the right thing. "You probably kept his temperature from rising further. I think it was the right thing to do."

By now, the dark haired lady that he knows is Janet is beside her sick friend. He's on the stretcher now and she is beside him,entwining her small hand through his long, narrow fingers. Her other free hand is softly stroking his hair and whispering in his ear. He senses more of a sibling love than a romantic one.

Terri speaks up again, after noticing Jack's hand in Janet's.

"Right before you guys got here he had a seizure. His other hand, the one Janet isn't holding, hit the tub hard. I think it's broken."  
> <p>


	3. Chapter 3

The trio paced a trail in the floor of the emergency waiting room. Janet became more and more impatient and worried as the minutes turned into an hour.  
>She went to the desk for the fifth time while Terri and Larry went to the pay phone and try once again to contact Jack's parents.<p>The elderly lady smiled sadly at her, the skin crinkling around her gentle eyes. "I'm going to go back again dear, and I won't give up until I get some information for you."<br>Janet thanked her and waited while her kind new friend went and checked on Jack.

Fifteen minutes later she returned and settled her warm, weathered hand on Janet's. By this time her two friends had returned and were at Janet's side. The receptionist looked at the trio, her gentle and wise features sending comfort.

"Your friend is stable. His temperature is down to 103 and they are doing tests and bloodwork to try and find the cause of his fever. He is awake and asking for you though he is still very ill, and you will be allowed in two at a time. Someone will be out to get you in about 15 minutes."

Terri spoke first. "Thank you so much. We've been so worried out here". She idly thought if Jack would have been admitted to the hospital she works at, they could have gotten to him much sooner. But that was a moot point now.

The wrinkled hand moved from Janet's hand to Terri's shoulder. "You are more than welcome, honey, and you all can call me Anna. I talked to Jack for a minute and I can tell he's going to be okay, he's young and vibrant. Depending on what the test results show, he may have a battle ahead of him, but he'll beat it, you'll all beat it together. He's lucky to have you, and just from the few mintues I spent with him, sweet and kind, I know you're lucky to have him too. It'll be okay. Now he's asking for you, so be brave for him back there, okay?"

Janet wiped tears from her already bloodshot eyes, this time though they were different tears. "Thank you, Anna. Thank you so much. You're right,  
>we'll get through whatever we have to." She wanted to hug the old lady, she was drawn to her, but felt it wouldn't be right to hug someone she just met, so instead she put her hands on the frail shoulders, only to be pulled into a warm embrace. Janet shrank into the embrace like a child would melt into his mother's arms.<p>

They held the embrace for a minute, until a nurse stuck her head out the door and said Jack's name.

Janet and Terri went in first, Larry set in the waiting room to wait for who he had just called.

The girls were whisked behind the fast paced nurse, to a small room surrounded by a curtain.

She told them the Dr would be in with the results of the test and opened the curtain for them. She then scurried away to another patient.

Janet felt a heavy weight lift from her shoulders as she saw her best friend awake and seemingly alert. He was obviously not feeling well, pale and eyes still glazy, he didn't look well, but he was awake and aware. That was much better than the scene a couple hours ago. She decided to gather herself before entering the room, letting Terri go first.

Terri went to one side of the bed, her hand instantly going to his brow, then softly kissing the damp forehead, tears running down her soft cheeks, only this time they were tears of relief. She didn't bother to wipe them away.

She waited until Jack's eyes met hers, grinning joyously at the tiny small he awarded her.

"You scared us to death. I can't tell you how happy I am to see you awake." She spoke gently and quietly as he found her hand and grasped it.

He seemed to be gathering the energy to speak, so Terri waiting patiently, stroking his cheek as she did so.

Finally finding his voice, though weak and frail.

"Terri? what happened. Is something wrong with me? I just remember going into the bathroom. ". He stopped then, scanning the room.

"Where's Janet, is she okay?"

Janet, right outside the curtain could hear the fear in her friend's voice and quickly stepped around the curtain.

"I'm right here, sweetie. I'm fine and you're going to be fine.". She tried to steady her hand as she reached to stroke the fine locks of hair back from the pale face. "Everything is going to be okay, Jack. We're all going to be right here beside you.".

Terri was staring at Jack's other hand, wrapped and probably waiting to be x-rayed. A pant of guilt shot through her even though she knew it really wasn't her fault, she was only trying to help him. Janet's voice shook her from her thoughts. She reached for her friend's shoulder and took notice of the bony protusion which wasn't there not that long ago. She idly wondered how nobody noticed this, before speaking up.

"That's right, We'll fight whatever it is we have to fight. And hey, who knows that there will even be anything to fight, maybe it's just a stubborn flu or virus of some sort!". Being a nurse, she knew this wasn't true. A person doesn't lose weight the way Jack has nor do they suddenly have tremendous temperatures the way Jack has, without there being some serious underlying cause. But, she was trying to keep Jack's outlook up, they'd deal with whatever the Dr told them as that news came. Though, her fear was Leukumia or possibly Meningitis, she hoped and prayed that she was wrong in both cases. She also secretly feared complications from such a high temperature, organ damage, recurring seizues, and so forth. There was so many possible issues, and she was so afraid for this kind soul lying beside her.


End file.
